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[heyboss]

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[heyboss]

Okay. Come on. Let's get you somewhere warm.

[He gestures for him to follow, through the door to the interior of the ship and towards the elevator.]

[reargunner]

Mmn.

[Walking feels... weird. Like he's off-balance. He uses the wall to keep himself steady as soon as he can reliably touch one, brushing his hand against it while he walks along.]

Did Arthur know where you'd gone?

[heyboss]

I told him that you needed my help but it wasn't - dangerous.

[He hangs back with him, making sure that he can walk and offering an arm if he needs it.]

[reargunner]

[A huff. He supposes that's fine. Though he doesn't take the offered arm he does lightly pat it by way of reassurance.]

'M okay. Just feeling a bit spaced out.

[heyboss]

I know. I don't want you to fall. We'll take the elevator, I think.

[He pushes the button for them.]

Arthur can be a little - protective of me sometimes.

[reargunner]

Yeah. [He leans one shoulder against the wall beside the elevator, nodding slightly and trying his very best to look like there's nothing wrong with him to any other casual passerby.]

I... get that. More than you might know. [A small half-smile.] But if you love him like I do Abel, I bet he drives you up the wall sometimes too.

[heyboss]

[The doors open and he holds the sides so Alexei can go first.]

I do love him. But I don't think I get frustrated with him. It takes a lot for a person to frustrate me.

[reargunner]

[He slips in through the doors, leaning against the wall and puffing out a sigh.]

Pity... Makes things more fun sometimes. Not always, though.

[heyboss]

Fun, huh?

[He chuckles.]

Well, you and Abel are still young. And your relationship dynamics are much different than ours.

[reargunner]

[He does have to chuckle at that, though it's a weary sort of sound as he rests his head back against the elevator wall and shuts his eyes.]

Yeah... I figure our 'relationship dynamics' are different to most people's.

[heyboss]

[The elevator doors open and he walks through, taking his key from his pocket, though he does turn around to watch Alexei and ensure that he follows.]

Maybe not as many as you think?

[reargunner]

[A small smile, before he pushes away from the wall and follows after Sheehan.]

Yeah, maybe. The background is fucked but the issues outside of it... not so different.

[heyboss]

There are some things that are just universal.

[They reach the door and he unlocks it, calling through.]

It's me. I have Alexei with me. [He leans back on the door and gestures for Alexei to come in.]

[reargunner]

[There's a brief hesitation, where Alexei makes a face and cringes slightly at his presence being announced, then he shoves his hands into his pockets and steps in past Sheehan.

He can own a room when he walks into it when the occasion suits. Now isn't one of those occasions.]

[lestercraft]

[Arthur was sitting on the couch, but he's already rising when Sheehan opens the door. If he was at all sleepy before, the only indication now is the fact he's wearing a plain t-shirt and pyjama bottoms under a robe. It's frankly the most underdressed anyone's ever seen him.

That and there's two cups of some sweet-smelling tea on the table, both untouched.

Arthur looks briefly surprised at the unexpected guest, but he quickly gives Alexei a light smile.]

Nice to finally meet you, Alexei. Did you want a drink at all- tea, coffee? Or something stronger?

[heyboss]

[Sheehan takes off his shoes when he walks in and closes the door behind him. He's glad, as he always is, to see Arthur, and reaches over to squeeze his hand briefly in a show of appreciation.]

Whatever you want.

[reargunner]

[Though entirely unintended, there's the immediate sense of having intruded. It's late, this is somebody's home, and--

He looks over his shoulder quickly when he hears the door click shut.

Arthur gets a quick scan. An up-down shift of his eyes as he takes in details. He doesn't venture to step away from his position near the door.]

No, thanks. [His native Russian accent bleeds lightly into his words. He takes a breath that's an obvious effort to steady himself.] This might just be a bad idea.

[lestercraft]

[Sheehan gets a warm squeeze back, but Alexei's obvious discomfort makes Arthur slip his fingers free again. He can see how their guests looks halfway to bolting, and he'd rather not undo all of Sheehan's hard work in getting him to this point.]

Nonsense. [There's bite to the English accent, but it's playful, almost teasing.] You woke us up, your prize is being bothered by us whether you like it or not now. So you can take your drink and some leftovers if you're hungry, and you can hide in the spare bedroom until you're done being embarrassed.

[With a gesture to the hall across the room and a wry little grin.]

[heyboss]

[Sheehan nods.]

You don't need to be social. You're not an intrusion. I would not have invited you here otherwise.

But it would make me feel better if you stayed.

[reargunner]

[He feels himself bristle, an irritated flush lightly colouring across the tops of his cheeks, and he drops his head slightly to pinch the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger.]

Why does this feel like I'm not gonna be given a fucking choice in the matter whether I want to be here or not.

[lestercraft]

Because Les is nice and I'm not. We've got you coming and going.

[But that grin is still cheeky, rather than smug, and he steps back to move to the kitchen.]

I'll get you some tea. Christ knows you don't need coffee right now.

[heyboss]

The door isn't locked, Alexei. You can turn around and walk out at any moment you want and I won't hold it against you.

[He steps back, giving him all the space he wants.]

[reargunner]

[Something about that - what Arthur says, what Sheehan says - seems to flick a switch. Alexei makes a face, dropping his hand a couple of inches and looking from one to the other before following the track of his gaze with pointing a finger at each man one after the other.]

You two, [He says, sounding faintly exasperated.] Need to pick a fucking lane and stick to it.

[There's some light Russian expletives muttered under his breath as he finally breaks from his ready-to-bolt position and takes a spot on the couch.]

It's been two minutes talking to both of you and I already feel like I'm herding fucking cats.

[lestercraft]

I believe it's called a two-pronged approach.

[The kettle's still hot, so he makes a quick and easy black tea to bring back out to Alexei, leaving it on the small coffee table in front of the couch so he can take his own chamomile tea.]

Besides. If you're so busy trying to work out why we're being so welcoming, you're not having a panic attack, are you?

[heyboss]

[Trust Arthur to work out what happened. Sheehan hadn't known what was going on, only that it was an emergency, but it's not that difficult to parse. He chuckles.]

I'm a psychiatrist. He's a detective. There are very different approaches to a situation.

It's how we keep the days interesting.

[He sits at the table and picks up a cup.]